When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves • Hacker News Board

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#341

Post by Chathamization » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

Balero wrote: post #86

Waterluvian wrote: post #67

Maybe this is too reductionist but I once heard someone describe it as, "there's nothing fundamentally dangerous about pot, but one of its (often intended) effects is that is slows our engines down. And some of us need to be firing on all cylinders." School was a tricky time for me. I'm thriving intellectually now, but I was a C- student pretty much 4th-12th grade. I needed those cycles that pot would have robbed me…

South Park put it quite well: "Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but… well, son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored. And it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything."

That's a valid point, but it's worth pointing out that it can be applied to many more things than just marijuana (TV, video games, alcohol, social media, most articles people read, many apps, etc.). There's an enormous section of our economy that's devoted to wasting people's time when they could be "learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative" (I'd add taking care of your body, your mind, and your community to that list as well). For a lot of people, evenings have been the time to sit mindlessly in front of a screen for a few hours.

This ends up hurting our society on multiple fronts: people not being as productive as they could be because they're encouraged to waste time, an overall less happy society, a less healthy society because of the encouragement of sedentary behavior (and the economic burden that comes with that), a large part of the economy that could be devoted to improving people's lives but is instead wasted on encouraging negative behavior, etc. The problem is that we've grown so accustomed to this situation that we rarely think much about it, or what we can do to change it (whereas marijuana is getting at least some scrutiny, since legalization is new).

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#342

Post by thecatspaw » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:01 PM UTC

kadendogthing wrote: post #318

thinkingemote wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand the quote to mean that pot makes people okay with being bored. Other recreational activities don't have that same effect. You might do them to stave off boredom, or you won't be bored when doing them, but it's not really the same thing. Video gaming is an interesting one, a form of dopamine addiction. Pot isnt about dopamine I think?

>Other recreational activities don't have that same effect. I'm sorry what do you think leisure activities are?

_alternatives_ to beeing bored

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#343

Post by moorhosj » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:04 PM UTC

_b4ut wrote: post #317

_dczq wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

==I think the prevalent assumption on HN is that every regulation can be traced back to some accident or mistake.== My experience on HN is quite the opposite, but that is besides the point. ==why do I have to keep those people alive with my tax payments or even be annoyed from the sight of a rail in the middle of nature.== This is libertarian ideology in the real-world. Your argument is that your annoyance is as valu…

Well, I am not a Libertarian. I am for regulation in many cases. The difference between a safety rail and traffic lights are this. When I approach an intersection then my health depends more the prudence of the car's driver also approaching the intersection and crossing my path. So putting traffic lights people at least know who can drive and who should stop. But a cliff is an obvious threat. There is nothing insidio…

==But a cliff is an obvious threat.==

But there are also other people around and animals and high wind speeds and any number of other factors that impact safety. I bet you still follow stop lights when nobody is coming the other way.

==Because children are not responsible and hence have to be protected from them self.==

This is an argument for putting rails on cliffs, as children are not barred from cliffs. Seems like you have talked yourself into a pretzel.

==I said that back when they didn't exist people drove more careful. With all those protection in place in cars - many people drive more reckless having those protections in mind. ==

I get the point, people may drive more recklessly because they feel protected by the seatbelt. I would say that all regulations are a cost-benefit equation. In the case of seatbelts, the benefit of more people living is larger than the cost of lost freedom.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#344

Post by kadendogthing » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:04 PM UTC

thecatspaw wrote: post #342

kadendogthing wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Other recreational activities don't have that same effect. I'm sorry what do you think leisure activities are?

_alternatives_ to beeing bored

Where does marijuana suddenly not fall under the same characteristics as any other leisure activity?

It's blatantly obvious some of the comments are speaking out of unbridled ignorance.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#345

Post by madamelic » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:05 PM UTC

nashashmi wrote: post #109

leesec wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely benefit from this. I find pot to be a great context switcher. Formerly after working on a problem for long hours, when I would go home I would still be immersed in the problem and unable to take my mind off it. Now when I come and have my things in order I warm up a vape bag and put on some jazz and am able to completely detach from work and really just enjoy my nights.

I have never understood this concept of detaching from work only to wake up the next day and having to face it. Why would you detach so much? Relaxing is overrated. It deprives you of powers you have developed or will develop, only to make you a more powerless person. And a powerless person can never and should never relax.

Working 24 hours a day is a good way to burn out. Sometimes you need to switch contexts and look at the problem in a new direction.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#346

Post by madamelic » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:07 PM UTC

icebraining wrote: post #164

lmilcin wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, same can be said about watching television, playing games or staring at your phone. Now, if there is no adverse health issue other than making you a little dumber, shouldn't we also ban a host of other habits that cause just a bit of harm to you? What about eating sweets that may give you a bit of pleasure but are also unhealthy if ingested regularly? What about driving car to cinema when you could watch the mo…

Well, same can be said about watching television And it has: http://i.imgur.com/yPCC3dj.jpg shouldn't we also ban Also? Who said anything about banning pot?

>Also? Who said anything about banning pot?

Everyone. Like every gov't globally in the past 40 years.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#347

Post by LrnByTeach » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:08 PM UTC

thecatspaw wrote: post #338

LrnByTeach wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let us say there are 100 teens in your neighborhood, 65 of them tried eating peanuts and 20 of them liked very much and started eating multiple times a week on a regular basis. Now 5 of those 20 started developing health/mental problems which are noticeable by parents, teachers & doctors. What are the chances of the majority of those 5 stop eating peanuts, It is very high. Now, what are the chances of similar 5 teens…

The same? You can rationalize peanuts beeing unhealthy for you exactly the same way you can rationalize away health issues due to marijuana. "All other people eating it are fine" "I've been eating peanuts for 5 years, and look, Im still alive"

>The same?

It is not the same. Look at the opioid epidemic in teens across USA, talk to health care providers in that area, there is very well recorded evidence "a BIG percentage" of kids who personally noticed "Learning problems and other mental problems" are UNABLE to STOP using weed.

Vs.

There is recorded clinical data evidence throughout USA hospitals. Millions of kids across the country were found having various kinds of food allergies and advised by the doctors to stop eating those foods and the vast majority DID STOP eating them.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#348

Post by thecatspaw » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:09 PM UTC

Maskawanian wrote: post #289

thecatspaw wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What pros are there? I havent found any personally.

Noticing changes faster, faster reactions. Probably how it evolved in the first place.

Faster Reactions?

I havent noticed any difference in how fast I recognize changes between me and coworkers. If at all, I seem to miss changes more often, as my mind usually goes "was that allways like that? I guess so", since recall of memories can be pretty flaky

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#349

Post by Analog24 » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:10 PM UTC

drawkbox wrote: post #339

Analog24 wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you misread what I said, which could have been worded better. > There are plenty of things that kids do NOT recover from and we now know that moderate marijuana use is NOT one of them. i.e. Kids don't recover from everything (as OP stated) but we now know they can recover from moderate marijuana use. The original comment was trying to dismiss this work as trivial, I was trying to prove otherwise. Also, no one…

I misread your statement, sorry about that. I agree though it is nice to have proof, part of the campaign against cannabis and safer decriminalized markets / regulated markets is about harm to kids, which would be better served in a legal / regulated market where more harm reduction is employed.

I completely agree. I'm pretty sure we share similar views on this. Sorry for my confusing comment at the start, I'll choose my wording more carefully next time :)

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#350

Post by pennaMan » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:10 PM UTC

unethical_ban wrote: post #146

rv-de wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with "banal" activities?

You're right, it's a matter of values. Banal: Overeating/overdrinking/overconsuming, sitting around, reading reddit/HN for hours, playing video games or twitch. Not banal: Challenging yourself to new activities or hobbies that require skill. Seeing the world, interacting with other people IRL. Learning (new topics, reading, etc). Building things. Getting out of your comfort zone. Essentially, being passive/not learni…

>Not banal: Challenging yourself to new activities or hobbies that require skill. Seeing the world, interacting with other people IRL. Learning (new topics, reading, etc). Building things. Getting out of your comfort zone.

All those things feel AMAZING while high, even if the banal things feel way better than sober. Cannabis doesn't just somehow discriminate to make only unproductive activities feel better.

I personally reached the conclusion to start seriously self-learning coding while stoned out of my mind and would furiously code in my room while stoned out of my mind. Now, about seven years later, I have a good career as a developer and still get stoned silly every night.